Drug-testing costs expected to rise due to suspension of SA lab

Dope-testing will become more expensive after the suspension of the Bloemfontein laboratory but it will continue at pace, the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) says.

CEO Khalid Galant said the dope-busting body would do everything possible to ensure business continued as usual, with Olympic hopefuls preparing for the Games later in 2024 being a priority.

The SA Doping Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein, which is run by the University of the Free State, had its accreditation suspended for six months by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) because its urine-sample testing was not up to scratch. It can continue to do blood testing. 

Galant said Saids had been notified of the looming suspension a couple of weeks earlier and had arranged for the laboratory in Doha, Qatar, to take over the testing of urine samples.

“We already did our homework and got quotes from a couple of the other accredited labs [around the world],” he said, adding that they looked at factors such as flights, courier and exchange-related costs.

“We selected Qatar based on a bunch of factors, not only cost. So from an athlete’s perspective and a sport perspective, testing will continue from Saids.”

Sending urine samples to Doha would not only add to Saids’ costs, but also to the turnaround time of results, he said.

There would be other consequences too. For example, an athlete failing a dope test and wanting a B sample tested would have to either fly to Qatar to witness the sample being opened or designate someone in Qatar to view it on their behalf.

Galant said Saids was bearing the increased costs at the moment because it viewed the situation as temporary.

“But if it does become long term, we have to revisit our table of cost for sample analysis … It is a bit of a financial hit for us and that’s a major concern going into an Olympic year. We have to figure out over the next few weeks how we’re going to manage the finances.”

Galant said Team SA, which will compete at the Paris spectacle from July 27 to August 11, would be prioritised.

It was too early to say if the increased costs might affect testing across all sports, but Galant said Saids, which is government-funded, would probably motivate for additional funding to ensure the business of drug-testing continued at the same intensity.

Blood samples, which are usually taken out of competition and only for specified sports, would still be tested in Bloemfontein.

“Blood has to be analysed fairly quickly so fortunately we still have that capacity,” Galant said.

Wada said in a statement on Monday that the Bloemfontein laboratory needed to address all nonconformity issues, and if it satisfied the advisory group of experts that had recommended it be shut down, it could apply for reinstatement before the end of the six-month suspension.